His wife pleaded guilty to shooting him after he was charged with abusing their infant daughter. Now Steven Kleber will have his own day in court.

Sep. 24, 2013

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A family photo of Mya Kleber, taken a week or two before she was allegedly shaken. / Lindsey Kleber

Details of the case

According to court documents, Lindsey Kleber found her infant daughter had been having seizures after she was left in the care of her father, Steven Kleber, 26. Kleber allegedly gave multiple inconsistent stories for why the child’s seizures may have started, including that he had tripped over a cord and it caught the child by her feet. Kleber never directly spoke with police, asking for a lawyer at the time of his arrest. Doctors in Kansas City originally had diagnosed the child with the seizures, but CT scans completed later showed the baby had a skull fracture, court documents show. According to charging documents, the child had bleeding present on both sides of the brain. According to those documents, hospital personnel told the mother that the injuries were consistent with the baby being shaken and then put on a hard surface. Court documents said Lindsey Kleber told police she left a meeting with prosecutors to discuss the case against her husband and went to get her gun. Documents say Lindsey Kleber told authorities she found Steven Kleber at the Baptist Bible College campus and asked him to talk with her, but he refused and got in his truck. As he tried to drive away, she allegedly crashed her car into his truck. Steven Kleber told authorities Lindsey Kleber got out of the car and went to the driver’s side of his truck, where she fired one round from a 9 mm handgun into the ground and two through the window. She then ordered him to get in her car, he told police. Later on, the couple was pulled over by a Greene County deputy when Steven Kleber tried to run from the car, court documents said. “(The deputy) said the subject ran about five or six steps, stiffened his body and then fell to the ground,” the report said. Lindsey Kleber told authorities she fired a shot in his direction to scare him and had no intention of killing him. Lindsey and Steven divorced after the shooting.

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At least to his wife, there was enough evidence against Steven Kleber to convince her to shoot him.

This week, a Greene County jury will more officially and rationally weigh the evidence against Kleber, who survived a single bullet wound to the back fired by his wife shortly after he was charged with abusing their 7-week-old daughter.

From prison, Lindsey Kleber told the News-Leader she remains fearful that her now-ex-husband might avoid a lengthy jail sentence.

“I’m doing time for what I did to him, which was in fear and protecting my girls,” she wrote in a letter from the Chillicothe Correctional Center.

“I pray Steven will serve time and Mya will be safe and get the justice she deserves.”

On Oct. 7, 2010, Lindsey Kleber forced her then-husband to leave the Baptist Bible College campus at gunpoint. Lindsey Kleber had met with Greene County prosecutors earlier that day, records say, and was afraid Steven Kleber might get probation for the alleged abuse.

In January 2012, Lindsey Kleber pleaded guilty to assault and other charges in Greene County court, acknowledging that she had abducted Steven Kleber and later shot him as he fled from her car.

In light of a doctor’s assessment — that Lindsey Kleber was in an altered psychological state due to the abuse of her baby — the prosecution amended the charges against her.

A charge of first-degree assault was changed to second-degree and a kidnapping charge was also reduced. Lindsey Kleber is now serving a three-year sentence.

Lindsey Kleber is expected to testify against her ex-husband this week.

She will likely discuss her daughter’s medical condition — in her letter, Lindsey Kleber said the girl, now 3, suffers from seizures.

“No child should ever have to go through what Mya had to endure,” she wrote in a letter received by the News-Leader. A former attorney for Lindsey Kleber was shown the letter and believes it to be authentic.

At some points during the letter, Lindsey Kleber expresses a lack of confidence in prosecutors and the justice system — the same mistrust that led her to shoot her husband.

“Too many people get away with child abuse... ” she said.

“Where’s Mya’s justice?”

Responding to the question raised about the system’s effectiveness, Patterson agreed to comment generally, though he cautioned that Steven Kleber is considered innocent until proven guilty.

“The Greene County Prosecutor’s Office has taken this case — and all child abuse cases — very seriously. We continue to work toward the goal of having Mr. Kleber held accountable for his actions,” Patterson said.

He noted it was the work of the prosecutor’s office that brought the case to a jury trial.

“It’s my hope and belief that justice will be accomplished through this process.”

Steven Kleber’s attorney, Stuart Huffman, declined to comment.

Steven Kleber is charged with child abuse and could receive seven years in prison if convicted.